Tick
by T'PeeJ
Summary: Gibbs is sick and everyone else catches it too.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Tick(say sick with your nose plugged)  
Author: T'PeeJ  
FANDOM: Navy NCIS   
RATING: So G  
ARCHIVE: Sure, but let me know where.   
SUMMARY: Gibbs has a cold.  
DISCLAIMER: Navy NCIS is the properties of Belisarius Productions, Paramount Network Television, DPB (The second greatest being in the cosmos) and CBS.  


Gibbs sat at his desk. A box of Kleenex sitting next to him. The bottle cough syrup and some cold pills . If Gibbs didn't know better, this was going to kill him before old age was going to get him. He was looking for a little peace.

Abby came up to Gibbs' desk carrying a bowl, "Okay here is some homemade chicken soup," said Abby. "Eat it up and you should start feeling better. I have more for you take home with you."

"Thanks, Abby," said Gibbs. "You know you didn't have to do this."

"Yeah, well someone had to do something," said Abby. "You are going to make everyone else sick otherwise."


	2. Tick 2

Ducky came up into the bullpen. Abby had told him told the doctor that Gibbs had a cold. Ducky had come up to check on his friend.

Gibbs had his head down on the desk. He was coughing. Both Kate and Tony wore a worried looks. The desk was covered in Kleenex.

"Jethro," said Ducky. Gibbs looked up at the doctor. "You don't look so good."

"Thanks," said Gibbs. "You know, you could give me something to make me feel better!"

"Jethro," said Ducky. "Go home and rest and get better. I am sure I can find someone to play nurse for you." Ducky smiled down at the younger man.

"Don't even go there, Ducky," said Gibbs. "Anyway, I have paperwork to do."

"Jethro, if you don't rest and get better," said Ducky, "you are going to end up in the hospital."

"Well, I can't figure out how the hell I got a cold in the first place!" said Gibbs.

"It's not like you can dictate you are healthy or sick," said Duck.

Tony started to laugh. "Gibbs dictates everything," he said.

Gibbs lifted his head off his desk and gave Tony a dirty look.

"Jethro," said Ducky. "Go home and rest." Reaching over, Ducky put his hand on Gibbs' forehead. "Jethro, you have a fever. If I have to call an ambulance to take you to the hospital, I will."

"All right," said Gibbs. "I'll go home." Gibbs got up and gathered his stuff. "If you need me, call me. I am going home to bed." Grabbing his coat, Gibbs made his way over to the elevator.


	3. tick 3

Title: Tick 3 (say sick with your nose plugged)

Author: T'PeeJ

FANDOM: Navy NCIS 

RATING: So G

ARCHIVE: Sure, but let me know where. 

SUMMARY: Gibbs has a cold.

DISCLAIMER: Navy NCIS is the properties of Belisarius Productions, Paramount Network Television, DPB (The second greatest being in the cosmos) and CBS.

When Gibbs got home, he went straight to his room and changed his clothes… and went straight down to work on the boat.

It didn't take long before Gibbs was back upstairs. The sawdust was making Gibbs cough even more. Stopping in the kitchen, Gibbs pulled a glass out of the cupboard and filled it full of water. Gibbs drank most of it down in one gulp. As he went to fill the glass up again, he saw Randi Oblee standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"What are you doing home, Jethro?" asked Randi.

"I'm sick, so don't give me any crap," said Gibbs. "I will shoot you!" He gulped down the water.

"Okay," said Randi as she moved into the room. "So a cold was brave enough to move into your body, and you are calling a huddle now and going to strike back, old Obi Wan?" Randi knew Gibbs wouldn't get the Star Wars reference, but it was fun to make him crazy even if he was sick.

"Do I look like Sir Alec Guinness?" asked Gibbs as he filled the glass full of water again. This time Gibbs didn't gulp it down. He slipped a little and put the glass down to look in the cupboard for something.

"You've seen Star Wars?" said Randi, laughing. "It doesn't have a cowboy movie star in it, so why did you see it?"

Gibbs turned around and looked at Randi. "You're getting old, Randi. You gave me the film when it came out in VHS, and then when it was released with the new stuff, you gave it to me again," said Gibbs. "Plus Harrison Ford is a cowboy movie star. He was in the movie 'The Frisco Kid' with Gene Wilder."

Randi laughed at her old friend. "Get into bed and I'll get you some meds," said Randi. "Let's see what you have and don't have around here.

Gibbs just grabbed his glass of water and walked to his bedroom. Crawling into bed sounded so good right now. By the time Randi wandered in to see what Gibbs had in his room, he had a smile on his face.

"Jethro," said Randi. "I am going to go to the store for you and get some stuff. I am not going to play nurse for you."

"Oh, Randina," said Gibbs. "You play nurse so well."

"Yeah, right," said Randi. "I will be back in a few minutes. Do want me to get you something to eat while I am out?"

"Yeah--get me some canned soup," said Gibbs.

"You know, Jethro," said Randi. "You're bad at being sick. I guess I'll just get you what I get my kids when they're sick. I'll be back in a bit." Randi turned and went out of the room.

Gibbs pulled the covers up around his shoulders and drifted off to sleep.

Waking up, to voices in the house, Gibbs got up and found Randi talking to Kate in the kitchen.

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Gibbs.

"Kate just showed up, and I have to leave," said Randi. "Here's some green tea, Jethro. Get back into bed and drink the tea. I have to go back to the base and go to a meeting. I have some food being delivered here in about an hour."

"How much do I owe you for the meds and the food?" asked Gibbs.

"Don't worry about it, Jethro," said Randi. Handing the coffee mug to Gibbs, she said, "Drink this and go back to bed." Randi leaned over to Jethro and kissed him on the cheek. She was out the door in seconds.

"Well, that is strange," said Kate. She looked at Gibbs and he was doing his best to drink the hot tea.

"This stuff taste like crap," said Gibbs as he took another sip of the tea.

"Green tea is good for you, Gibbs," said Kate. 

"You can't prove it by me," said Gibbs. "I'm going back to bed." Gibbs started down the hall--and then stopped. "Kate, what are you doing over here?"

"I brought the rest of the soup that Abby made for you," said Kate.

"Oh," said Gibbs. "Thanks for bring it over."

"No problem," said Kate. "Randi put the soup in the fridge."

"No problem," said Gibbs. "I am going to take some meds and go to sleep."

"All right," said Kate. She watched him walk down the hallway to his room. Kate stood there for a second and followed Gibbs to his room. The man was in the bed already and asleep. Kate smiled, and for some reason, found a chair and sat down and watched Jethro Gibbs sleep. 

When the doorbell rang, it scared the hell out of Kate. She jumped up and answered it before they woke up Gibbs.

The food had arrived. Kate gave the guy a tip, the food in, and put it all away.

Kate went back to Gibbs' bedroom and sat back down. She sat there watching Gibbs sleep. He was in REM sleep; his eyes were really moving now. So when Gibbs started to mumble, it surprised Kate.

"Like hell you are," yelled Gibbs.

Kate got up and moved over to Gibbs, moving her hands toward Gibbs to wake him up. Gibbs grabbed Kate and flipped her over him and on to the other side of the bed. Kate's scream woke up Gibbs.

Gibbs looked down at Kate. She was lying on his bed. "Kate?"

She looked up into Gibbs blue eyes. "You were having a nightmare," said Kate. "I was going to wake you, when you grabbed me and flipped me over on the bed."

Gibbs let go over of Kate and moved away from her. Reaching over to his glass of water, he offered it to Kate. Kate took the water and drank it.

"Did I hurt you, Kate?" said Gibbs. 

"You didn't hurt me, Gibbs," said Kate. 

"Okay," said Gibbs.

"I'm going to leave now," said Kate. "Your food showed up awhile ago, and it's all put away."

"Thanks for staying, Kate," said Gibbs.

"I didn't mind at all, Gibbs," said Kate as she got up on the far side of the bed and moved out of the room.

Gibbs watched her go. 'I had Kate in my bed,' thought Gibbs. 'At least she didn't say I was talking about her in my sleep.' Closing his eyes, Gibbs fell back asleep.


	4. tick4

Title: Tick 4 (say sick with your nose plugged)

Author: T'PeeJ

FANDOM: Navy NCIS 

RATING: So G

ARCHIVE: Sure, but let me know where. 

SUMMARY: Gibbs has a cold.

DISCLAIMER: Navy NCIS is the properties of Belisarius Productions, Paramount Network Television, DPB (The second greatest being in the cosmos) and CBS.

Kate woke up with her alarm clock sound off. Her first thought was, 'Today will be slow with Gibbs home sick.' Her second thought was, 'I feel like crap!'

"Oh, great," said Kate out loud. "I've caught Gibbs' cold. How the heck did that happen?" She pulled the covers up over her head.

Finally getting up, Kate moved into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She looked only half as bad as she felt. Now that was a miracle. Kate shook off the thought of calling out sick and got into the shower.

She got dressed and walked into the front room. She grabbed the phone book to look up a twenty-four hour drugstore. She was going to have make a pit stop and get some supplies of her own.

Kate got to work a little later then normal, but she made it. Her head was plugged up and starting to pound. Looking over at Gibbs' desk, she tried to figure out how she got Gibbs' cold. It was then Kate remembered that Gibbs had given her a sip from his water glass last night. Oh, she was going to kill him!

Kate opened a box of cold meds and took one of the pills with her coffee. She hoped it kicked in soon. Kate was thinking of putting her head down on the desktop, like Gibbs had, and just die then.

"Good morning, Kate," said Tony with a big smile. He actually looked at the woman. She didn't look good. Looked like he was going to have call Ducky up to scare Kate off too.

"What's good about it?" asked Kate as she tried to look through some paperwork.

Tony put down his backpack and picked up the phone. He dialed Ducky's number. "Hey," said Tony into the phone. "Would you come up to the bullpen?" Tony hung up the phone and sat down. "How are you feeling, Kate?"

"Well, I wish I was dead," said Kate. "But I'll survive."

"Death does not become you, Caitlin," said Ducky as he entered the bullpen.

"Thanks. Good to know that, Doctor," said Kate. "Why are you up here?"

"I came up to see if you are all right," said Ducky as he moved over and put his hand on her forehead. "Well, your temperature is rising, but you aren't as bad as Jethro. So how did you get his cold, Caitlin?"

Kate laughed a little. "I drank from his water glass without thinking about it," said Kate.

"Oh, my," said Tony. "Sharing a glass of water; you two are closer than I thought to breaking rule twelve."

Kate gave Tony a dirty look. "Funny, Tony," said Kate. "I was over at Gibbs' house waiting for some food to be delivered--Randi had bought it for Gibbs. She had to go back to the base for a meeting. I stayed so Gibbs wouldn't have to deal with it. Well, Gibbs scared the hell out of me, and without thinking about it, he gave me his glass of water to drink to calm down. That's the story."

"Well, that's convenient," said Tony with a big smile.

"Tony," said Kate. "You are such a pig. Like Gibbs would ever do anything with me." Kate shook her head.

"Caitlin, I am going to get a thermometer," said Ducky. "I want to check your temperature. You feel warm." The Doctor left the bullpen and disappeared into the elevator.

Ducky was back in a few minutes with Abby.

"Kate," said Abby. "Are you all right?"

"No; I caught Gibbs' cold," said Kate. "Damn him. Remind me to shoot him when we're both better."

Abby laughed. Ducky put the thermometer into Kate's mouth. 

"If she goes home," said Tony. "How am I going to finish all the paperwork on my own?" Tony was sounding a little scared.

Kate picked up her phone and dialed a number. Ducky took out the thermometer out of her mouth and looked at it.

Gibbs answered the phone. "What?" He sounded like he had been woken up. 

"You gave me your cold, Gibbs," said Kate. "I am so going to kill you!"

"Kate," said Gibbs, a bit confused. "Are you all right?"

"No. My head is pounding, and it's stuffed up," said Kate. "I'm going home in a minute. When I get better, I am going to shoot you!"

"Well, I wish you would come over and do it now," said Gibbs. "Go home and go to bed. I'm going back to sleep!"

"Yeah, right," said Kate. She got up and started to pick up her meds and Kleenex. "If you guys need me, I'll be at home in bed."

"Ducky, what was her temp?" asked Abby as they watched Kate get into the elevator.

"She is up to 100," said the Doctor.

"Oh, great," said Tony. "Now it's sink or swim time."

"You'll be fine, Tony," said Abby. "Ducky and I will help--and I'm sure if you called McGee, he would help too."

"Oh, I would have to be desperate to call McGee," said Tony. He laid his head down on the desk.


	5. tick5

Title: Tick 5 (say sick with your nose plugged) 

Author: T'PeeJ 

FANDOM: Navy NCIS 

RATING: So G 

ARCHIVE: Sure, but let me know where. 

SUMMARY: Gibbs has a cold. 

DISCLAIMER: Navy NCIS is the properties of Belisarius Productions, Paramount Network Television, DPB (The second greatest being in the cosmos) and CBS. ~~

Kate went home and changed into her basketball shirt and sweat pants. She went into the kitchen and filled a glass of water. Then she went to bed. She put the glass on the night stand, and put the medicine and a box of Kleenex next to it. Crawling under the covers, Kate made herself comfortable and went to sleep.

"Kate," said a voice.

Rolling over, Kate looked at Gibbs. He was looking better. "What are you doing here?" asked Kate as she sat up.

"I just came over to make sure you were all right, that's all," said Gibbs. "You look like an angel sleeping there. Sorry I woke you up." 

"You should talk," said Kate. "I thought you looked like an angel when you were sleeping too."

"When did you watch me sleep?" asked Gibbs as he sat down on the bed. 

"When I was waiting for your food to arrive," said Kate.

"Oh," said Gibbs. "I wish I had known you were with me. I hope I didn't scare you too badly when you tried to wake me up."

"No; I'm fine," said Kate. "I just won't ever try to wake you up from a nightmare. What were you dreaming about any way?"

Gibbs refused to meet Kate's gaze. Kate watched him as he considered the question.

"Well…" said Gibbs. The phone started to ring.

Kate jumped and sat up--and realized she had been dreaming. Leaning over to the night stand with the phone on it, Kate picked it up. "Hello."

"Hey, Kate," said Abby. "How're you feeling?"

"I was sleeping having a dream of Gibbs," said Kate. "It was very strange."

"Oh?" said Abby. "How strange--and is it illegal in several states?" Abby started to laugh.

"No, Abby," said Kate, laughing as well. "He came over to check on me. I had asked him a question, and he was going to answer it when your call woke me up."

"You were going to get Gibbs to answer a question? I'm sorry for interrupting that one, Kate."

"Tell me about it," said Kate. "I was in shock, too."

"Anyway, the reason I was calling was to ask my own question," said Abby. 

"Six feet four inches, brown hair, slight Canadian accent and brown eyes," said Kate with a laugh.

"What?" asked Abby with a laugh. "What?"

"Oh--weren't you going to ask me if you could bring something over to me?" said Kate. "I was just putting my order in for a man. Sorry, I get silly when I'm sick."

"That sounded like you want someone specific there, Kate," said Abby.

"Oh, it was," said Kate.

"That didn't sound like Chase or anyone else I know you've gone out with."

"Oh, that's because I went out with him in college," said Kate. "So what did you want to ask, Abby?"

"Do you need food or meds or whatnot?" asked Abby.

"Ummm," said Kate. "I could use some bananas and some canned soup--just look to see if it has MSG; I'm allergic to it. Some 7-Up would be good--and some juice, I like White Grape, Apple."

"What do you need in meds or Kleenex?" asked Abby.

"Well, this morning I bought a small box of Kleenex and box of meds has ten pills in it," said Kate.

"Okay," said Abby. "I'll get you more of those too. Do you want Kleenex with lotion in it?"

"All right," said Kate. "You still have a key to my apartment?"

"Yeah, I do," said Abby. "I keep meaning to give it back to you."

"Don't worry about it, Abby," said Kate. "I'm going back to sleep."

"Okay," said Abby. "I'll be there in a little while. I'll have someone with me. It'll most likely be Tony."

"Okay," said Kate as she yawned. "See you later."

"Okay, Kate. Go to sleep," said Abby. The line was disconnected.

Abby turned to Tony. "You still going to the store with me and get some stuff for Kate?"

"Umm," said Tony. "Sure. Give me one more minute and we can go. I have to finish this thought for the report." Tony kept typing on the computer, and when he finished, he looked up at Abby and smiled. "Okay. I'm ready to go."

"Okay," said Abby.

Tony got up and put on his coat and grabbed his backpack. Abby slipped her coat on and waited for Tony at the elevator.

~~

Ducky let himself into Gibbs' house. Going into the kitchen, Ducky looked around until he found a pan and filled it full of water. He searched through a cupboard and found some green tea. Putting a bag in a coffee mug, the doctor put it on the counter.

Ducky went down the hall to Gibbs' bedroom. Gibbs was fast asleep, and Ducky was going to wake the bear up. Moving closer to Gibbs, Ducky touched his shoulder.

Jethro opened his eyes and looked straight at Ducky. "Ducky?" said Gibbs.

"Hello, Jethro," said Ducky. "How are you feeling?"

"I've felt better," said Gibbs. "What time is it?"

"18:00," said Ducky. "Have you eaten today?"

"Eaten?" said Gibbs. "No; I don't think so."

"All right," said Ducky. "I am making you some tea, and I will make you something to eat, too. Stay in bed, Jethro."

Gibbs was out of the bed and in the bathroom before Ducky could finish his sentence.

Ducky moved back into the kitchen. He was looking in the cupboard looking for what to feed the man. Ducky had thought Jethro hadn't stayed awake enough today or yesterday to eat. He would scold Jethro about that later.

"Ducky," said Gibbs as he walked into the kitchen bare foot. "There's some soup that Abby made in the fridge." Gibbs sat down in a chair at the small table in the kitchen.

"Thank you, Jethro," said Ducky. "Now get back into bed, since you are barefoot. You aren't helping yourself very much, Jethro."

"If I go back to bed," said Gibbs, "I will fall back to sleep. If you wake me up again, I will get one of my guns out and shoot you, so no."

"Then go put some socks on, or slippers," said Ducky. "You are making yourself sicker."

"Yes, Mother," snarked Gibbs as he stood. He coughed as he walked down the hallway to his room. He was back in a couple of minutes with a brown robe and beat-up pair of slippers on. "That better, Mom?"

Ducky had just poured Abby's soup into a bowl and put it in the microwave. He set the timer before turning to face Gibbs. "Yes, my son, it's better."

"Good," said Gibbs. "So how was work today?"

"Quiet, that is for sure," said Ducky. "Abby and I pitched in to help Tony. Abby was trying to talk Tony into calling McGee to help him. Tony says he is not yet desperate enough to call Agent McGee."

"You call and get McGee to come over tomorrow," said Gibbs. "If Tony's doing all the reports from Kate's and my notes, he'll be at it forever."

"All right," said Ducky. The water had started to boil. Taking the pan off the heat, Ducky turned off the stove and poured the water into the cup he had out. Putting the pan back on the stove, Ducky carried the cup over to Gibbs. "The tea needs to steep, and then you can drink it."

"That stuff tastes like crap, Ducky," said Gibbs. He could taste it in his mouth already. "How can most of the world drink it?"

"We can put a little milk in it for you," said Ducky. "That might take most of the bitterness out of it."

"Yeah, whatever," said Gibbs. "I don't think it will really help."

Ducky laughed. Gibbs was most definitely a coffee drinker! The microwave sounded. Ducky opened it and pulled out the bowl of soup and put it in front of Gibbs. Opening a drawer, Ducky found the silverware. Taking out two spoons, Ducky handed one to Gibbs and put the other into the coffee mug. Ducky opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk. Checking the date on the milk and seeing it was still good, Ducky put it on the table next to the mug. Dunking the tea bag a few times in the water, Ducky wound the tea bag around the spoon and wrung it out. Throwing the tea bag away, Ducky poured a little milk into the mug. Stirring it in, the doctor handed the mug to Gibbs.

"Now eat and drink," said Ducky. "Before I throw your six into the hospital."

"You and whose army?" demanded Gibbs, hiding a smile.

"I don't need the army, Jethro," said Ducky. "All I have to do is call Randi and Director Morrow." The doctor knew that was low and inside, but he also knew it would work.

"You would call for those two," said Gibbs. "Don't worry. See? I'm eating." Gibbs took a bite of food and then a sip of the tea. "Hey, that isn't too bad with the milk."

"Told you so, Jethro," said Ducky.


	6. tick6

Title: Tick 6 (say sick with your nose plugged) 

Author: T'PeeJ 

FANDOM: Navy NCIS 

RATING: So G 

ARCHIVE: Sure, but let me know where. 

SUMMARY: Gibbs has a cold. 

DISCLAIMER: Navy NCIS is the properties of Belisarius Productions, Paramount Network Television, DPB (The second greatest being in the cosmos) and CBS. 

~~ 

Abby and Tony let themselves into Kate's apartment. Tony carried two big grocery bags into the kitchen. Abby put two smaller bags on the dining room table.

Going into the kitchen, Abby helped Tony put the stuff away. She opened a can of soup. Putting a pan on the stove, she poured the soup in and started to warm it up.

"Tony, open up the white grape juice and pour some into a glass with some ice," said Abby.

"Sure," said Tony did as he was ordered.

"Thanks, Tony," said Abby. "You watch the soup; I'm going to wake Kate up."

"Okay," said Tony. "I'll do good for you." The man smiled at Abby.

Abby looked at him for a second. 'Did I just talk down to him or what?' Leaving the kitchen, Abby entered the master bedroom. 

Opening the door, Abby turned on the overhead light. She found Kate practically rolled into a ball lying on her side.

"Kate," said Abby as she reached over and touched her.

Kate opened her eyes and straightened her body out. She looked up at Abby. "Hi," said Kate. "What time is it?"

"1800," said Abby. "I'm warming up some soup for you."

"Okay," said Kate as she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She got up and went into the bathroom.

Tony came out of the kitchen and looked at Abby as she came out of the bedroom. "Is Kate okay?" asked Tony.

"Yeah," said Abby. "She just had to make a run to the little girls' room."

"Oh," said Tony as Kate came out of the bathroom. "Hey, Kate."

Looking up at Tony, Kate mumbled something and headed for the sofa. She lay down on the sofa and curled up.

"I'm going to check on the soup, Kate," said Abby.

"Okay," mumbled Kate.

Tony moved closer to Kate. "Do you want me to get you a blanket and pillow?"

"Yeah," said Kate. She watched her partner walk into her bedroom. She heard him moving about the room. Then he came out with a blanket and pillow.

"I found this blanket in the closet. I hope it's okay to use it," said Tony. "I just grabbed a pillow off the bed."

"That's fine," said Kate as she started to cough. Kate had the look on her face that she was tired of all the coughing and sneezing and blowing of the nose.

Tony moved over to the sofa and unfolded the blanket and put it over Kate. Kate moved so he could put the pillow down. Kate sat up and got comfortable.

Abby came out of the kitchen with a bowl and a glass on a tray. Carrying it over to Kate, Abby put it on Kate's lap. "There you go!"

"Thanks, you two, for all of this," said Kate.

"Hey, Kate, you're family," said Abby.

"Yeah," said Tony. "So when we get sick, you can come over and baby us. I have this real cute French maid outfit you could wear."

"You are a pig," said Kate.

Tony just smiled at Kate. She was feeling a little better if she could snark at him.

"Kate, I'll make you some homemade soup for you tonight and bring it over tomorrow," said Abby.

"Thanks, Abby," Kate as she eat her soup and sipped the juice. "So, how's Gibbs doing?"

"Well, Ducky was going over there tonight," said Tony.

"Gibbs won't be able to push Ducky around too much, with him being sick," said Abby.

"Like being sick would stop Gibbs from pushing anyone around," said Kate.

"Yeah; you're right," said Abby. "Gibbs would push the Queen of England around if he thought she knew something and he needed to know it."

"I'd pay money to see that one," said Tony.

The three of them started to laugh.


	7. Tick 7

Title: Tick 7 (say sick with your nose plugged)

Author: T'PeeJ

FANDOM: Navy NCIS

RATING: So G

ARCHIVE: Sure, but let me know where.

SUMMARY: Gibbs has a cold.

DISCLAIMER: Navy NCIS is the properties of Belisarius Productions, Paramount Network Television, DPB (The second greatest being in the cosmos) and CBS.

Kate got up in the morning. Her head was pounding but she had something to do. She got dressed and grabbed her keys and her purse and went out the door.

Gibbs woke up feeling better then he had in days. He got up and started to move about his house. He feed himself some breakfast and got dressed. He grabbed his keys and went out the door.

Gibbs pulled up in front of Kate's apartment. He wanted to check on her. When he got out of his car, he saw Kate sitting her car. Walking over to her car, Gibbs tapped on the window. Kate had been sitting there with her eyes closed. She had driven herself someplace and got back to the apartment all right, now her head was bothering her again.

When Gibbs tapped on the window, Kate opened her eyes to see Gibbs standing there. Kate opened the door and grabbed a bag off the passengers seat.

"Hey Gibbs," said Kate. "You looked great. All that sleeping really helped you. I am going back to bed now."

"That is good to know," said Gibbs. He looked at her and then at the bag. It was from a drug store. What was so important that she had to go herself? "Let's get you inside and into bed."

"Okay," said Kate. The two walked into the building together.

Kate unlocked the apartment and let them in. Kate moved into the bedroom with the bag. She came out a second or two later. "Gibbs would you like something to drink?" asked Kate as she moved into the kitchen. She got a bottle of water out of the fridge. She took off the cap and popped a pill into her mouth. Gibbs watched Kate. What she took didn't look like a cold meds.

"Yes, water would be fine," said Gibbs.

"All right," said Kate. As she got in the fridge and pulled another bottle of water. She took it out to Gibbs.

"Kate," said Gibbs. "You have to get back into bed. You're not one hundred percent well yet."

Kate rolled her eyes at Gibbs. "I'm going, Gibbs," said Kate as she put the water down and moved into her bedroom to change back into her nightclothes. Kate closed the door. She turned to look at it, "if I had half a brain I'd go back out there naked and say this how I sleep when I am not around you!" said Kate quietly. "I am not that brave." She moved over to the bed and changed her clothes. When she came back out in the front room, she was smiling. She had the thought of the look on Gibbs' face if she had come out naked. That made her laugh.

"What so funny?" asked Gibbs from the sofa.

Kate did her best of sucking in her lips in her mouth to take away the smile, "Just a passing thought," said Kate. "It has gone away."

"Oh, all right,"said Gibbs. He watched as Kate moved over to the sofa next to him. His blue eyes danced a little at what the thought Kate had. "Aren't you suppose to be in bed?"

"I have done nothing but sleep, the last day," said Kate.

"Well you came over and took care of me, I thought I would return the favor," said Gibbs.

"Really?" said Kate. Her head was starting to really bother her. "Crap." Kate got up and moved toward the bedroom. She got out the cold meds and another bottle. She opened it up and dropped the pill in her hand.

Kate are you all right?" asked Gibbs from the door way.

Kate turned toward him. "Yes, I have this cold and my allergies are acting up." She moved back out of the room and past Gibbs. She picked up her bottle of water and put the meds in her mouth.

"How can you tell if your allergies are bothering you with your head plugged up all ready?" asked Gibbs as he watched her take the meds.

Kate laughed a little. "You've never had allergies then, have you?" asked Kate.

"No, I haven't," said Gibbs.

Kate moved back into the front room and sat down. "I have pain or itching in my eyes," said Kate.

"Oh so that is what clued you in," said Gibbs as he sat down next to Kate.

"Yes," said Kate. "My head hurts so much, I wouldn't have been able to figure out anything else." Rotating her neck around, Kate closed her eyes and leaned over onto Gibbs. She brought her legs and up and put them on the sofa. Gibbs didn't move. He wasn't too sure what to do.

Kate opened her eyes, and noticed she couldn't see Gibbs. "Gibbs?" called out Kate.

"Yes," he said behind Kate.

Kate turned to see Gibbs was what she was leaning on. Sitting back up, "I'm sorry Gibbs. I got light headed," said Kate.

"Well lets get you to bed then," said Gibbs as he helped Kate to her feet. Leaning on Gibbs, Kate went with him to her bedroom. Getting Kate into the bed was easy. Gibbs smiled to himself. 'None of that Jethro!' Tucking her in, Gibbs started to move and Kate took his hand.

"Stay with me for awhile," said Kate as she yawned.

"All right, Kate," said Gibbs as he pulled a chair over closer to the bed with his foot. Sitting down, Kate's hand felt so small and soft in Gibbs' big paw. Sitting on the night stand next to Kate's bed was a teddy bear holding a Hersey's Kiss candy. "Who is your friend with the Hersey's kiss?"

"Loxley," said Kate. "As in Robert of Loxley of Robin Hood. She said it so quietly and like she was someplace so very far away.

"You like Robin Hood?" asked Gibbs.

Kate laughed a little. "A friend loved the movie 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," said Kate. "I was given the bear by him. He said I was worth dying for. I believed it until he died too. So I keep the bear close to remind me that someone could have loved me that much. Silly I know."

Gibbs watched as Kate drift to sleep on him. She still hadn't let go of his hand. He kind of liked holding her hand. It made Gibbs a little angry that Kate would believe that no one would ever love her even to the death.

"Gibbs," said Kate from a very far off place. "Thanks for coming over. I missed you." Her breathing started to change and Gibbs knew she was asleep now.

Gibbs sat there for another hour before Kate loosened her grip on his hand.

Kate's land line started to ring, Gibbs picked it up without thinking about it. "Hello," said Gibbs. He hoped the phone didn't wake Kate. She rolled over.

"Hello," said a male voice. "Who is this?"

"Jethro Gibbs," said Gibbs.

"Oh," said the voice. "This is Chase Sinclair. I was going to leave Kate a message about our date tonight."

"Kate is sick," said Gibbs. He smiled a bit. "She came down with a cold a couple of days ago. I came over to check on her." He didn't know why he just said that, but he had a feeling Chase would tell Douglas he was over at Kate's.

"So how bad is she?" asked Chase.

"She took some cold meds and allergy meds," said Gibbs. "She just got to sleep just before you called."

"Should I tell Douglas and have Jean come over and stay with her?" asked Chase.

"You can if you want," said Gibbs. "But they could catch it and give it to Caitlin Rose."

"That is true," said Chase. "So I guess we aren't going out either. Maybe I will come over for a bit tonight and see how she is."

"You could do that," said Gibbs. He prayed that Chase wouldn't come over. Gibbs wasn't sure if he was going to leave at all today.

"All right," said Chase. "Tell Kate that I called her. I will call her tonight then."

"All right," Gibbs. They hung up. Gibbs picked up the phone again and dialed a number.

"NCIS, Doctor Mallard," said Ducky.

"Ducky, this is Gibbs," said Gibbs.

"Jethro, you sound better," said Ducky.

"I am feeling lots better," said Gibbs. "I am over at Kate's place checking on her. Do you know if Abby is coming over today?"

"Yes, she had planned on it," said Ducky. "She made Kate some of her chicken soup."

"Okay," said Gibbs. He would be alone with Kate for several more hours. He liked that. "So McGee get over there okay?" Gibbs realized that was the first NCIS question he had made. Normally he would have at least ten questions. Oh truly he had been sick.

"Yes, McGee got here all right," said Ducky. Tony wasn't happy about it, but he seems to be surviving with the help."

"Good," said Gibbs. "I am going to go now. In case Kate needs me."

"All right Jethro," said Ducky. They hung up.

Gibbs put down the phone as he watched Kate sleep. She looked at peace now. She was in REM sleep. Her eyes were moving very fast now. She was smiling too. Gibbs wondered what she was dreaming?


	8. Tick 8

Title: Tick 8 (say sick with your nose plugged)

Author: T'PeeJ

FANDOM: Navy NCIS

RATING: So G

ARCHIVE: Sure, but let me know where.

SUMMARY: Gibbs has a cold and gives it to every one.

DISCLAIMER: Navy NCIS is the properties of Belisarius Productions, Paramount Network Television and CBS. DPB is the second greatest being in the cosmos!

Gibbs pulled on his rubber gloves as he looked for the meds that Kate took earlier. Gibbs knew it wasn't right to snoop through Kate's stuff while she slept, but Gibbs didn't like that Kate was secretive about whatever the meds were.

The doorbell rang. Gibbs pulled the gloves off and went to answer the door. When he opened it, he found Abby and McGee standing there.

"Abby?" said Gibbs.

"I brought Kate the soup I made for her," said Abby. She started to sneeze. "I also have your blasted cold too. McGee is taking me home and I am going to bed." Abby handed the container with the soup to Gibbs.

"Hi, Boss," said McGee.

"Okay Abby," said Gibbs. "Go home and get to bed. Take her straight home, McGee! Don't let Abby talk you into anything else."

"Oh, I am planning on it," said Abby. "I'll see you later, Gibbs." She turned and moved closer to McGee.

"Right, Boss," said McGee as he took Abby by the hand.

Gibbs closed the door and moved into the kitchen and put the soup in the fridge. Then he went back into the bedroom, putting back on the gloves to look for the meds. Where could that woman put the them?

After several minutes of looking around the bathroom, Gibbs moved back into the bedroom. Keeping one eye on Kate's sleeping form, Gibbs looked through Kate's dresser and closet. He still hadn't found the meds. 'Where the hell would she hide something?' Gibbs stood there thinking. Turning back toward the bed, Gibbs moved over to the nightstand. He opened the drawer up and found one of Kate's guns with a lock on it. Taking the gun out, Gibbs looked at the rest of the contents. Pulling out a photo album, Gibbs opened it to find some of Kate's drawings. There were several of drawings of Caitlin Rose. Then several of people from work; Ducky and Abby and Tony. What surprised Gibbs were several drawings of him. There was one of Gibbs sleeping at his desk. When the hell did she do that one?

Putting everything back in the drawer, Gibbs moved around to the other side of the bed to the other nightstand. Opening it, right on top was the receipt of the meds. 'Got her!' thought Gibbs. Then Gibbs realized the instructions for the meds weren't there. This wasn't helping at all.

Moving out to the front room, Gibbs pulled out his cell phone and called Ducky. The phone rang a couple of times before the Doctor answered.

"Jethro," said Ducky. "How are you feeling?"

"Better Ducky," said Gibbs. "I need you to do me a favor."

"What would that be?" asked Ducky.

"If I give you the receipt number," said Gibbs. "Could you call a drug store to find out what meds it is?"

"Just look at the bottle," said Ducky.

"Ducky, if I had the bottle, " said Gibbs, "I would have. The meds aren't mine; they're Kate's. She left early this morning to get them. She hid the bottle."

"Jethro," said Ducky. "It's none of your business what it is."

"Ducky," said Gibbs. "Can you find out for me or not?"

"Jethro," said Ducky. He knew would give in to the man, but Ducky had his pride. Sometimes Jethro stepped way too far over the line. "What is the receipt number?"

"K134670883," said Gibbs. "Call me when you get something."

"Yes, Jethro," said Ducky. The Doctor wrote the numbers and shook his head. He would always give in to Gibbs.

Gibbs hung up the phone and put the receipt back in the nightstand. He started to move out of the room; he was feeling a little tired. This was the first time in several days that he had been up longer then an hour. He was winded already. Standing in the doorway, Gibbs turned back to look at Kate. She looked so beautiful, even if she was sick. Unlike Gibbs. He looked like hell if he was sick. Leaving the bedroom with a smile, Gibbs grabbed the ballet dancer teddy bear as he walked by and lay down on the sofa. Tucking the bear under his arm, Gibbs closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"Gibbs, wake up," said Kate as she shook Gibbs' shoulder.

Opening his eyes Kate was standing over him. She was wet. Sitting up, Gibbs said, "Kate?"

"Answer your phone," said Kate. "It's been ringing since I got out of the shower. Why do you have my bear?"

Gibbs forgot he had the silly thing. Handing it to Kate, "Sorry. I was looking at it before I laid down," said Gibbs. "I was feeling a little tired. Didn't mean to fall asleep here. I'll get you out of hair. Get your hair dry and get back into the bed."

Gibbs phone started to ring again. Pulling it out of his pocket, "Gibbs," said the man. He moved away from Kate--he had seen it was Ducky calling back. He didn't want her to know what was going on.

"Jethro," said Ducky. "Where you have you been?"

"Sorry, I fell asleep on Kate's sofa," said the agent.

"Well I told the drugstore I was Kate's Doctor," said the Doctor. "I told them that she came in because she had a cold and she said she had just got a new medication but couldn't remember the name for it. She did have the receipt for it, though. I asked what it is. They told me, Jethro."

"Well what is it, Ducky?" asked Gibbs. The Marine was losing what patience he had.

"Jethro," said Ducky. "There are some things that are meant to be private."

"DUCKY!" yelled Gibbs into the phone.

"I am sorry, Jethro," said Ducky.

Gibbs closed the phone and fumed.

"Gibbs," said Kate. "What is going on?" Kate rubbed her eyes.

Gibbs looked at Kate and calmed down a bit, but he could just ask her. "It's all right, Kate," said Gibbs. "I asked Ducky for a favor and for some reason he says he can't do it."

"If you tell me what it is maybe I can help," said Kate.

Gibbs smiled at Kate. 'If only I could ask, Kate,' thought Gibbs. "It's nothing, Kate," said Gibbs. "Look, let me warm up some soup for you. You can get your hair dry, then you can go back to bed. Where are your meds?"

"Um… in the bedroom," said Kate. "Why?"

"You go get them, and I will go and get the soup warming up," said Gibbs. "By the way, Abby is sick now. Guess we get to take care of her next." Moving off into the kitchen, Gibbs got two bowls out of the cupboard and the soup out of the fridge. Pouring the soup in the bowls, Gibbs put one bowl in the microwave and turned it on.

Kate went into her room and grabbed the cold meds. She turned to look over her shoulder. She put down the med and picked up her teddy bear with the Kiss. Opening a flap on the bottom of the bear, and she pulled out a prescription bottle. She looked at the label and saw that they were once a day meds and put them back into the bear. Walking back into the kitchen with the cold meds, Kate took the medicine with her bottled water. She watched as Gibbs pulled out a bowl of soup and put in another in to the microwave.

"I hope you don't mind if I have a bowl with you," said Gibbs.

"No, that's fine, Gibbs," said Kate.

Gibbs moved Kate's bowl over to the table and put it down.


	9. Chapter 9

Title: Tick (say sick with your nose plugged)  
Author: T'PeeJ  
FANDOM: Navy NCIS  
RATING: So G  
ARCHIVE: Sure, but let me know where.   
SUMMARY: Gibbs has a cold.  
DISCLAIMER: Navy NCIS is the properties of Belisarius Productions, Paramount Network Television, DPB (The second greatest being in the cosmos) and CBS.

NOTE: Kate and Douglas use nicknames for each other. Kate is Kite and Douglas is Digger and Caitlin Rose is also called K2, they aren't spelling errors. Got it? Good, now read.

Gibbs left Kate's apartment and drove straight to Ducky's house. Gibbs sat out in his truck waiting for Ducky to get home from work. Driving by the truck he geared himself up for the conversation that the two of them were about to have.

Getting out of the truck, Gibbs slammed the door shut and had a good head of steam behind him.

"Don't start Jethro," Ducky said.

"Why won't you just tell me what the meds are?"

"It's none of your business what Caitlin is taking. You aren't her father, brother, husband or lover, Jethro. So don't ask or try to bully me into giving you the information."

Gibbs was about to tell the good Doctor a thing or two when the front door opened and Mrs. Mallard came out with the dogs, coming off the porch to see who was out there.

"Donald is that you?" called Mrs. Mallard.

"Yes Mother. I'm out here with Jethro; I'll be in a minute."

"Did you say Jason is with you? Bring him in with you. It's been awhile since he's been here."

"Thank you, Mrs. Mallard, but I'm going home. I've been sick the last couple of days and I don't want to make you ill too." Lowering his voice to Ducky, he said "We aren't done with this Doctor."

"I'm sure that we aren't Jethro," said Ducky. "Go home and get back into bed."

"I'm going Ducky," said Gibbs as he walked back to his truck. Getting in, Gibbs throws it into gear. Pulling out onto the street, he watched Ducky get the dogs and Mrs. Mallard back into the house.

Stopping at the store, Gibbs ran inside and bought some soup and crackers, then went straight home. Since the house was unlocked, Gibbs just walked in and put the food away. He started some coffee and put some soup in a bowl and into the microwave. As the coffee started brewing and the soup started to cook, Gibbs made his way back to his bedroom and changed into his t-shirt and shorts.

The food and coffee were both done by the time Gibbs arrived back into the kitchen. Pouring himself a cup of coffee first, Gibbs was feeling better, until he started to cough. He then got the soup out of the microwave and set it on the table. Sitting down at the table himself, he ate it so he could take his cold meds and get back to bed. Bed was the best place for him.

Refilling the coffee cup, Gibbs moved to the bedroom, took more meds and headed downstairs to work on the boat until the meds kicked in. He reminded himself not to get too carried away in the basement or his coughing would send him back upstairs quickly and also reminded himself to not fall asleep in the basement either.

Kate was awakening by the phone ringing. Rolling over, she picked up the cordless phone and answered. "Hello."

"Hey Kite," said her cousin Douglas.

"Hey Digger," Kate replied as she yawned.

"Chase told me that you were sick, how are feeling?"

"Like crap," said Kate. "How did Chase know I'm sick? I haven't talked to him in a couple of days."

"Chase called to leave you a message, but your boss Gibbs picked up the phone instead and he told Chase."

"Oh that must have been this morning," said Kate. She was feeling the lost time.

"Do you need anything from the store, Kite?" asked Douglas.

"I don't know, Digger," said Kate. "Abby and Tony brought me stuff yesterday. Let me get up and see if I need anything else."

"Alright," said the Marine.

Kate put the phone down and slipped on her robe and slippers. She picked up the phone and headed toward the kitchen. "All right, I'm on my way to the kitchen." She coughed, "Sorry about that, Digger."

"It's alright."

Kate found that Abby had bought ten cans of soup. Several more bottles of water had been put in the fridge. Kate had noticed that she didn't have a lot of crackers or green tea in the cupboard. She also thought that bananas and seven up sounded good too.

"Digger," said Kate. "The only thing I see I'm low of is crackers and green tea. If you go to the store for me could you get bananas and 7-Up too?"

"Sure, Kite, I'll get them for you. K2 wants to talk to you."

"Sure," said Kate as she pulled out a bottle of water so she could take more cold meds. She took out the soup that Abby made and put it in the microwave and set the timer. As it cooked, she headed for the meds and took them.

"Hey Kate," said Caitlin Rose.

"Hey Munchkin," said Kate to her name sake.

"Dad won't let me come with him over to your house. So I'm having him bring you a picture I drew for you."

"Thank you K2." Kate smiled at the thoughtful child. "I'm sure you'll be stealing my job if I don't get well soon."

"That would be cool to work with Jethro..."

"CAITLIN ROSE," yelled Douglas in the background.

"Sorry, Dad," said the girl to her father. "It's Mr. Gibbs not Jethro."

"Sorry you were yelled at Caitlin Rose, you have to remember that your dad doesn't like when you call Gibbs-Jethro. He is my boss and I don't even have that honor yet. I think he likes you better then me."

"I think he does like me more then you," said Caitlin Rose with laughter. "I will remember not to do that again."

"Baby girl let me talk to Kate," said Douglas.

"Dad wants to talk to you, Kate. Feel better, soon."

"I will K2."

Douglas took the phone back, and said "Listen Kite, I'm going to leave for the store now. I'll let myself in, so you can go back to bed."

"Actually I was thinking of moving to the sofa for awhile, Digger, whether I'll be awake is another story," said Kate as she yawned again.

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit then," said Digger.

"Alright then, bye," said Kate.

"Bye, Kite," said the Marine.

Pushing end, Kate went back into the bedroom to get some pillows and a spare blanket. She went into the kitchen and got the soup and went back to lay down on the sofa and turned on the TV. She got comfortable, watched some of the national news, eating and then fell asleep.

Kate woke up to see Douglas standing over her.

"Hey Kite, sorry I had to wake you."

"It's alright," said Kate as she sat up. She reached for the water bottle and took a drink.

"I'm going to put this stuff in the kitchen," said Digger as he nudged the bag by his foot. Kate watched Douglas go into the kitchen and put stuff away.

"You remember the picture from K2?" asked Kate.

"Yeah it's in my coat pocket," said Douglas. When he was finished with the stuff in the kitchen, he moved back into the front room and sat down next to his cousin. He pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Unfolding the paper, Kate smiled. K2's drawing was of the day that she took the little girl to the park with Gibbs. It was of the three of them hanging up side down on the monkey bars.

Douglas looking at the picture, "Okay I know that is you and K2, but who is that?"

"It's Gibbs," said Kate. "I almost had a heart attack when the man did that with us."

Douglas started to laugh. "No wonder he is so near and dear to Caitlin Rose's heart. He is a very big little kid!"

"Gibbs is great with kids. As far as I know, he hasn't been a father, but he would make a great father. Some day he will find the right woman to marry and have dozen of kids with her."

"How many times has Gibbs been married?" asked Digger.

"Three times and they all have been frogs. Not a princess in the bunch."

Digger started to laugh, "So what have the darlings done to him?"

"One hit him with a baseball bat and another one has hit him with a golf club, it was either the 7 or 9 iron."

Digger stared at his cousin for a second or two, "I don't think frogs cover what those two are!"

"Well he is paying three alimonies, so yeah frogs don't cover Gibbs' ex-wives."

"I guess," said Digger. "Well since you are good, I'm going to get going. I have to help with the finishing touches on the house. Momma is coming tomorrow. It has to pass the inspection of 'El Capitan'. You know Momma, she will check in weird places for dust."

"That's true. Sorry I'm sick," said Kate with a smile.

"I think you did this on purpose so you could get out of the family dinner in two days."

"Douglas, I wouldn't do that!" Kate laughed. "I love you and my aunt. I just take her in REAL small doses!"

"Yeah I know she can be a hard ass, but she is my Momma and I'm stuck."

"You know Digger; you can hide out here if you wanted to but you might take this cold home with you and give it to everyone there." Kate just smiled again.

"You are mean Caitlin Lily; you threaten me with my own Momma getting sick. I do not like you at all!"

They both laughed. Douglas kissed Kate on the forehead and left the apartment. Kate got up, and turned off the TV. She took her pillows, headed back into the bedroom and got into bed.

Tony finally called it quits and told McGee to go home. Picking up the phone, Tony called Abby.

"Hello," said a sleepy voice.

"Abs, it's Tony, how are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit by a phaser and then the Borg are tap dancing all over my body."

"That's not good, Abs."

"Yeah I know, Tony."

"So do you need anything from the store?"

"I still have home made soup. Let me see if I need anything else," said Abby as she crawled out of her coffin. It was a short walk to the kitchen. "I could use some crackers. Oh I could use some fruit juice too. That would be good with some bananas. Let me check my med supply. I could use some more cold meds and some cough syrup too."

"Okay, I'm done for the night. I sent McGee home, so I will swing by the store for you and get you that stuff. So go back to sleep and I will call you to let you know when I get close to your place."

"K," said Abby. "See you in a bit."

"Bye," said Tony as he hung up.

Abby took the phone back into her room, crawled back into her coffin and went back to sleep.

Tony was a block from Abby's place when he dialed her number on his cell phone. The sleepy goth answered on the fourth ring.

"Hello," said Abby.

"Hey, Abs, I'm about a block from your place."

"Okay I will meet at the front door," said Abby as she got up out of her coffin. Hanging up the phone, she slipped her black robe and matching slippers and headed for the door.

Tony parked in front of Abby's place and the porch light came on. Getting out of the car, Tony watched Abby open the door.

"You know you look like crap?"

"Thanks Tony, I return the favor when you get sick."

"Abs, I happen to be your bestest friend."

"Bad English, Tony," said Abby as she stepped back to let him in.

"But you still love me, Abs," said Tony with a big smile on his face.

"We will see if I ever get well," said Abby as she followed Tony into the kitchen.

"I'll put the stuff away from you, Abs and then I'll go," said Tony as he started to get stuff out of the bag and putting it away. "Now you are to get yourself back into your coffin and sleep some more."

"Thanks for the stuff, Tony, I won't forget this," replied Abby as she followed back to the front door.

"I know," said Tony as he kissed her on the cheek and headed out the door and into his car. He waved at her and drove away.

Abby went and crawled back into her coffin and prayed that she died soon. She fell asleep not long after that.

When the meds kicked in, Gibbs was heading to bed. He still couldn't figure out why Ducky wouldn't tell him about the meds that Kate took. Why were the two of them being so secretive about it. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Gibbs wondered if there was something seriously wrong with Kate. No that couldn't be, Ducky would have told him that. Getting under the covers, Gibbs went to sleep this wondering.


	10. Chapter 10

Title: Tick 10 (say sick with your nose plugged)  
Author: T'PeeJ  
FANDOM: Navy NCIS  
RATING: So G  
ARCHIVE: Sure, but let me know where.  
SUMMARY: Gibbs has a cold and the rest of the team gets it too.  
DISCLAIMER: Navy NCIS is the properties of Belisarius Productions, Paramount Network Television, DPB (The second greatest being in the cosmos) and CBS.

NOTE: This takes place in first season, so McGee is still down at Norfolk. Since we don't know if Tim lived down in Norfolk or in the apt we've seen him in later on, I've put his apt in Norfolk.

Big thanks to erinm_4600 for betaing this for me.

Ducky got up in the morning and could feel the cold coming on. This wasn't going to be good. Picking up the phone, he called in to work and told them that he was sick. He then got dressed and ran to the drug store to get some cold meds and Kleenex, several boxes. Getting home, he made sure his Mother's nurse knew that he was home sick, praying that his mother didn't want to come and check up on him. He didn't want her to catch this damn cold from him. Taking the meds, Ducky crawled back into his bed and made another phone call.

The phone ringing from some place far away woke Gibbs up. Rolling over, he grabbed the damn thing. "Hello," growled Gibbs.

"You gave me your cold, Jethro," Ducky said.

"Serves you right for not telling me what Kate got at the drug store."

"If my head wasn't pounding, I'd come over there and put you over my knee."

"Do you feel real lucky, Doctor, or what?"

"If you kill me, I'd be out of my misery, so it's a win-win, Jethro."

"Then I would have to break in a new ME, so I don't think I will kill you. You have to suffer like the rest of us."

"I'm going to fix myself a hot toddy and going back to sleep, Jethro."

"Sounds good, Ducky, feel better soon," Gibbs said and rolled over to put the phone down. He got up and headed for the kitchen to get some food in him. His head wasn't pounding, so he must be on the up side of this cold. This was the first time he had been sick. He always thought that when his team members got sick, they were playing it up to get out of work, but Gibbs knew they weren't. Well, except Tony. He would act as if his arm had been ripped off if he had a hang nail.

Warming up the soup, Gibbs grabbed the phone and called the office.

"Special Agent DiNozzo," said Tony when he answered the phone.

"DiNozzo," said Gibbs. "How is it going with you and McGee?"

"Well, we are getting a lot of paper work done, Boss."

"That's good. Are you or McGee having problems with mine or Kate's handwriting?"

"Boss, all of Kate's notes are on the computer, McGee showed me how to move them over into the reports. So hers are very easy. Sometimes, McGee and I, we have to talk it over on what yours says. You'll have to look yours over when you get back."

"Are either of you coming down with this cold?"

"I think McGee is, he has been sneezing a lot today."

"Great," said Gibbs. "So you're the lucky soul that hasn't been hit with it yet. So, what have you done differently this year?"

"I haven't done anything different, boss, just got some of your luck," said Tony.

"Well, give it back, I don't like being sick."

"Sorry boss, I'll give it back to you right this moment," Tony said with a laugh.

"You better!" Gibbs said as his soup finished cooking. "My food is ready to eat, so I'll let you get back to work."

"Okay, boss." The two men hung up the phone. Gibbs moved back over to the microwave and pulled his soup out. He was getting tired of soup. If he felt well enough, maybe he would go out and get some real food. Instead, he sat down and ate the soup, took more meds and went downstairs to work on his boat until the meds kicked in.

Kate woke, rolled over and looked at the clock then closed her eyes again. They were hurting. She got her allergy and cold meds out and headed for the kitchen. Getting into the fridge, she got out a bottle of water and some yogurt. She opened the water and took the meds, then ate some yogurt. Kate realized that her head wasn't pounding as bad as it had been. She smiled and was glad that she was starting to feel better. Going back into her room, she grabbed a pillow and blanket and moved out to the sofa. She got comfortable and turned on the TV.

Abby woke and looked around her bedroom. She could barely breathe; she had coughed most of the night. If she didn't love Gibbs so much, she would go over to his house and kick his ass for giving her this cold. Getting up out of the coffin, Abby went to take her meds and head back to bed. Maybe later that day she would feel up to taking a shower. It was a good thing she couldn't breathe through her nose; she knew she smelled by now. She kept waking up the night before with no covers on her. She had kicked them off. Abby hated to be ill. Looking at the time, Abby moved over to her computer and turned it on. She was going to email her mom and tell her that Gibbs gave her his cold. Her mom would get Gibbs for her; that made Abby laugh. Like Gibbs would be scared of her mom, or her mom be scared of Gibbs. That would be an interesting time. The last time those two were together, they had their famous staredown contest and her mom won, once again. Of course, it helped that mom was deaf and nothing could distract her except Gibbs making faces at her. Which he tried to do, once again, and it didn't help him at all.

Abby sent the email to her mom and then waited for three minutes before her mom emailed back. Abby laughed at her mom's note and things to do. She even told Abby to 'crawl back into that damn coffin, close the lid and stay warm.'

McGee had gone five minutes without sneezing. He was pretty sure he had Abby's cold. Who got it from Kate, who got it from Gibbs. 'Hmmm,' thought Tim. 'So this was Gibbs' fault, like I'm going to bitch at him about the cold. Great.'

Clearing his mind, McGee went back to moving Kate's notes on another case onto the report form.

"Hey, McGee," Tony called out. "Come here, I'm having problems with Gibbs writing again." Tony turned Gibbs notebook onto its side to see if that would help. It didn't help at all.

McGee got up from his desk and moved over to Tony. Taking the notebook from DiNozzo, McGee looked at it for a couple of seconds. He was about to speak when he felt a sneeze coming. Looking up at the lights, the sneeze stopped. "It looks like it says: Ranger Smith came in for an interview at 1500 hours and that interview was recorded in SOP." Handing the notebook back to Tony, Tim turned away and sneezed.

"Good one, McGee, and good timing, too," said Tony. "You didn't get any of your geeky germs on me."

Tim moved back to the desk he was temporarily using and sat down. It wasn't like Gibbs would take McGee on as a team member. He didn't have enough brownie points or Karma points to get on a regular team yet, but, once he did, he would show them just what he could do. All those years at M.I.T. and Johns Hopkins would finally put to good use. Until then, he did his time down at Norfolk and did it to the best of his ability.

Kate woke up to someone knocking at her door. Getting up from the sofa, Kate went to the door and looked out the peephole and saw that it was Gibbs. Opening the door, Gibbs walked in without Kate inviting him in.

"You do know it's polite to wait until you are invited inside before you barge into someone home!" Kate said as she started to cough.

"I'm not a vampire, Kate, I don't need an invitation to come in," said Gibbs as he turned off the TV.

"How would you know that a vampire needs an invitation to enter someone's home? Isn't that a just bit of pop culture for you?" Kate moved over to where Gibbs was standing.

The ex-Marine smiled that charming smile of his, grabbed Kate and kissed her.

This time, Kate really did wake up. She looked around the front room of her apartment. 'Now that felt a little too real,' thought Kate. Taking her pillow and blanket back into her room, Kate headed for the bathroom to shower. She turned up the heat in the apartment and then got into the shower.

Gibbs got up later in the morning, got dressed and went in to the office. As he stepped off the elevator, he could hear someone sneezing and coughing. 'Yeah, McGee has it, too.' Stopping at the beginning of the aisle that lead to his section of the bull pen, Gibbs looked at Tony's desk, which was empty at the moment, and then down at the end where McGee was sitting. His head was on the desk. Gibbs remembered that position.

"McGee," barked Gibbs.

The young man lifted his head off the desk.

"Go home, you are going to get others sick if you stay here any longer."

"Yes, boss," said McGee as he got up and packed his stuff, then headed out.

Tony stepped off the elevator as Tim stepped on. "Where are you going?"

"Gibbs is here and he is sending me home," said Tim. "I'll see you later, Tony." The door slid shut and Tony headed for his desk. He found Gibbs sitting at his own desk. He was going through some of his mail that had piled up while he was sick.

"Good to see you, boss, but are you well enough to be in yet?" asked Tony.

"Well, my head isn't pounding at the moment and, since it isn't, I don't feel in killing you in five or six different ways, so, yes, I'm well enough," answered Gibbs as he kept on reading the mail. He never once looked up at Tony.

Tony smiled. It was good to have Gibbs back. Even if he was still a growly old bear. The sick bear was scarier. Tony was pretty sure the sick bear would have killed him with his bare hands. Sitting down at his desk, he went back to doing the paperwork. One would think that the Navy would have done away with all the paperwork by now, but, being part of the Government, they had to have three copies of everything. That way, at least some of the work would end up in the right place. Maybe not all at the same time, but it would end up somewhere.

Between all the work that McGee and Tony had done, they had caught up on most of the paperwork. All Gibbs and Kate had to do was read over what the two had put in the reports from their notes and make sure that they were right.

Gibbs went through his mail and started on his reports, correcting Tony's misreading of Gibbs' notes. By the time Gibbs finally looked at the clock, it was 1500. Looking over at Tony, "DiNozzo, sign off and go home."

"You going home, too?"

"Yeah, I will in a bit. I'm going to finish this report and then I'm going. I'm starting to feel tired."

Tony noticed Gibbs had his glasses on and he wasn't trying to hide the fact, this time. 'Well, maybe Gibbs had faced the fact that his eyes were old and he needed them to read things.' Shutting off his computer, Tony grabbed his coat and put it on and then his backpack. "I'll see you tomorrow then, boss?"

"Most likely," said Gibbs. He was on the last page of the report. He was ready to go. He wanted to stop at the store and get some real food. He was tired of the soup. Even if Abby did make it.

"Okay, then I will see you later," said Tony as he walked toward the elevator.

Picking up the phone, Gibbs dialed Kate's home number. She picked it up after the third ring.

"Hello," said Kate. She sounded better then she had.

"Kate," said Gibbs. "How are you feeling today?"

"Better, the head and body aren't killing me. I was thinking of coming in tomorrow for a half a day."

"Sounds good. I did the same thing today. I'm just getting ready to leave for today. So come in tomorrow afternoon and work as long as you want."

"Thanks, Gibbs," said Kate.

"You're welcome," said Gibbs. "I better let you go."

"Alright," said Kate. The two of them hung up the phones.

Kate pulled her laptop onto her lap again and went back to reading her emails. There was a couple of hundred of them. If she didn't get on line for several days, the emails piled up on her.

Kate wrote a couple of quick emails. One to her mother and the other to Abby to see how the Goth was doing.

McGee drove all the way back to his apt in Norfolk. He got down there before the rush hour traffic started. Once he was in town, he went straight to the store to get more Kleenex and some soup. He would return the car to the base later. He was too sick to take it back now and have to come back on the city buses. Getting what he needed at the store, he went straight home.

Tim went straight to his apartment and dumped everything on the counter in the kitchen. He put on the water for some green tea he bought and opened up some soup. Putting it on the stove on low, Tim grabbed a banana and headed for his room. He changed out of his clothes and into something to sleep in. He ate the banana as he headed back to the kitchen. Getting out a mug and a bowl, Tim got ready for the things on the stove. When the tea kettle sounded, Tim poured the water into the mug with the tea bag in it. As he looked at the tea, he wondered if Dr. Mallard ever thought about having a high tea with his friends at NCIS. That might be fun to do. As the tea steeped, Tim checked on the soup. It was almost done.

Abby got up in the afternoon. She was feeling a little hungry. She headed for the head to use it before anything else, though. She checked her emails, too. She saw that there was one from her mom and from Kate. She would answer them after she started to cook some food. She tried to remember if she pulled more of her soup out of the freezer or not. She looked in the frig. She found the soup. Getting out a smaller bowl, she poured some into it and put it in the microwave. Going back to her computer, Abby answered her mother's email first. Mom was checking on her. _Did she have some of Uncle Rooster's soup made up?_ (Yes, I made enough of the darn stuff. Gave some to Gibbs and Kate. Going to check later today if anyone else is sick from work and see if they want some of it. They don't know what is in it and don't know just how fast it will cure them up.) _Did she remember not to drink anything with caffeine in it?_ (Yes, I remembered Momma, but you are trying to kill me. I'm dying for a Caf-Pow) _Did she have some juices or tea?_ (I have some apple juice and white grape juice, too, I still want a Caf-Pow more!) _I emailed Gibbs and yelled at him for getting you sick. Don't know how long it will take the man to check his emails. I bet it won't be a couple of months before he does check._ (Yeah, you are probably right about a couple of months before he sees it. Gibbs really hates the computer and all the cool stuff we can do on it.) _Is there anyone else sick from this cold at NCIS? _(Well, Gibbs was first then Kate and then me. I don't know if anyone else is sick now. I will check later, like I said) _Don't stay out of bed for too long, mon petite._ (qui mere, je savez).

Going to Kate's email.

_Hey Abby! I hope you aren't as sick as I was. I'm feeling lots better today. I'm going to go in to w__ork tomorrow for a half-day. Gibbs was in for a half-day today. Let me know if you need anything. __You helped me and it's my turn to help you._

_Kate _

Well I'm feeling like crap, Kate, but that just means I am alive. LOL!

I'm surprised Gibbs didn't go in before now. I'll call him and check on him before I crawl back into my coffin. Don't push yourself too much tomorrow, Kate. Take it easy. Hopefully you won't get a case and you can spend the time inside.

Abby.

Closing off the Internet, Abby called Gibbs desk. He answered on the second ring.

"Gibbs"

"Abby"

"What are you doing out of bed?" Gibbs could hear how bad she sounded.

"Oh, just crawled out to get some food in me. You might want to check your email. Mom sent you a yellagram for getting me sick."

"A yellagram?"

"Yeah, you know how my mom is about my health. She doesn't want anything to happen to me and possibly lose my hearing. She still worries about that. If she knew just how loud I listen to my music, she would kill me for sure." Abby laughed and started to cough.

"Well, you and Ducky and McGee are all the sickies today."

"Tony isn't sick yet? How did that happen? He is the one that gets sick first and complains like it's the end of the world."

"I don't know, but he got lucky this time around. I thought of beating the crap out of him so he wouldn't feel so bad about being healthy."

"You are such a great boss, Gibbs."

"I know," said Gibbs. "Listen, I'm going to go home now. I've had as much fun as I can stand today. I hear my pillows and blankets calling me."

"I understand that one, I hear my coffin calling me. I'll talk to you later on."

"Bye, Abby," said Gibbs and he hung the phone up. He got his coat on and turned off his computer. He would check the emails tomorrow for the yellagram from Abby's mom. He left the office pretty early, for him. It was 1530.

Ducky had spent most of the day asleep. His head was pounding and his body was killing him with aches. He couldn't breathe out of his nose. Time for more meds. Getting up, he moved toward the bathroom. Coming back into his bedroom, he found his Mother there.

"Donald, what are you doing home so early?" asked Mrs. Mallard.

"I'm sick Mother. You don't have to worry about me."

"You are my son, of course I'll worry about you. Now, get back into bed and I will make you some soup and bring it to you."

"No, Mother, it's all right. You don't have to do that at all. I'll do the soup myself."

"You do your own soup? I think not, young man. Now, get back into bed and I won't tell your father that you were arguing with me."

"Oh, Mother," said Ducky as he got back into his bed. Mrs. Mallard left the room. "I think I will go back to work tomorrow or go hide out at Jethro's house instead of staying here." Ducky knew he wouldn't do either of those things.

Tim brought his tea and soup over to his computer and turned it on. He checked his emails and wrote one to Abby.

_I'm sick and at home. I wish I grabbed some of your soup before you got sick, but didn't think of it. I'm stuck with canned soup. Oh well. Hope to hear from you soon. Get well Abby, Tim._

Tim shut down the computer and finished up his meal and drink and crawled into his bed. It wasn't long before he was asleep.

Gibbs left the store with two bags of food. He was looking forward to eating real food instead of soup. He wasn't going to push his luck. Not going too crazy, but he bought some food. None of it was in liquid-form. That was the important part.

Getting into his car, he drove home. Taking the bags, he grabbed the pots and pans that he needed. It didn't take long before he had food sitting on the table and he was ready to dig in.

Mrs. Mallard woke her son up to give him soup. "Now, Donald, eat this all up and, tonight, when you go to bed, I will rub some Vicks on your chest and feet."

"Mother, I wish you wouldn't come in here," said Ducky. "I don't want you to catch this from me."

"Oh, please," said Mrs. Mallard. "You are my son and I have to take care of you. It's in the contract."

Ducky gave up. When his Mother remembered the contract, there was no point. "Yes, Mother." Sitting up, Ducky took the tray with the soup and tea on it and put in on his lap. Mrs. Mallard sat down in a chair next to Ducky's bed and watched her baby boy eat.

"Thank you, Mother," said Ducky when he was done with his soup.

"I want you get more sleep," said Mrs. Mallard.

"I promise I will," said Ducky as he leaned over and took the glass of water and took a drink. As his mother left the room, he took some cold medicine and laid back down. Mrs. Mallard came back in and tucked Ducky in.

Leaving the room again, Ducky was alone and wondering what was going on in the real world.

Gibbs got up in the morning, fixed himself some breakfast and headed out to get his coffee and some juice, just in case. He got in at his regular time. Turning on his computer, he started to look at his emails. Getting rid of most of them, he opened Abby's mom's yellagram first. The woman may be deaf, but she went up one side of Gibbs and down the other for getting her daughter sick. He should know that something like that could turn the wrong way with Abby and make her deaf, too.

That was Mrs. Sciuto's biggest fear, Abby loosing her hearing. Abby didn't share that fear. Even if Abby did lose her hearing, she would still be able to do her job. Gibbs would make sure of that.

Gibbs returned the email to the lady and was as kind as he could be. At least he couldn't send Abby's mom a head slap through the email.

Tony came in a little later then normal, but Gibbs didn't say anything. The man had been doing most of the work since everyone else was sick, but Gibbs didn't want to give Tony a big head. He gave the younger man a little of his patented stare.

"Sorry I'm late, boss," said Tony after he saw the stare. "I got stuck behind a three-car pileup. Took a half hour to move up to the closest exit to get on the city streets."

Gibbs got up and headed toward Tony. The slap that hit the back of Tony's head wasn't as hard as normal. It still surprised Tony.

"Get to work on the paperwork, DiNozzo," said Gibbs as he headed off.

"Yes, Boss," said Tony. Sitting down, the man got to work.

Kate was feeling better when she got up. She took a shower, went out and took her meds and had some food.

Standing there, in just a towel wrapped around her, she looked in her closet and found something she could wear to work. Laying it on the bed, she went about her morning routine. Around 1100, she left her apartment and went to work.

When she stepped off the elevator, she could hear Tony talking to Gibbs. As she came around the corner, she smiled at her team. "Hello," said Kate.

"Hey, Kate," said Tony. "You came in for a half-day?"

"Yeah," she said as she put her stuff down. "How are you feeling, Gibbs?"

Looking up at Kate, "Feeling better then death," said Gibbs as he turned back to the report he was reading.

"Kate," said Tony. "McGeek and I just moved your reports over to the official reports, but you should still look at them."

"Where is McGee?" asked Kate as she sat down.

"He is sick," said Gibbs. "I sent him home yesterday. I got a call today for NCIS office in Norfolk. He hasn't returned the car he was using. I told them not to worry about it. The man will do so when he is feeling better."

Kate had turned on her computer. She listened to her boss. She smiled at the thought that she was the only one who didn't call Gibbs 'boss'. She wasn't as totally scared of the man as everyone else was. Though, if he used that angry tone, she would jump as high as the others would.

Pulling up the reports, Kate started to read what was done up for her.


End file.
